?Chief wrecker? only candidate for ALP leadership

Former prime minister
Paul Keating
described the frontrunner for the leadership of the NSW Labor Party,
John Robertson
, as being a proponent of “sicko populism", which he said is “simply what we don’t need any more of".

Mr Keating was scornful of Mr Robertson, the head of Unions NSW from 2001 to 2008 and now a member of the NSW lower house.

Mr Robertson is the only candidate for the party leadership, according to a Labor source.

“A Robertson leadership endorses that amoral view of how the party should operate," Mr Keating said on the ABC’s 7.30 Report last night. “It means they go nowhere. It’s the same old gang. They don’t believe in anything."

In recent days Mr Robertson has been criticised by senior party figures who have portrayed him as a behind-the-scenes factional player who helped create a culture of nepotism and self-interest that undermined the state Labor government.

Mr Keating criticised Mr Robertson for his role in defeating plans by the
Morris Iemma
government to sell the state’s electricity assets and said he was responsible for the party’s big loss of seats in Saturday’s election.

The handful of Labor MPs left in NSW are scheduled to meet on Thursday to elect a new leader. Labor’s campaigns spokesman, Luke Foley, yesterday called on Mr Robertson,
Michael Daley
,
Verity Firth
and
Carmel Tebbutt
to put their hands up for the top job.

Sources said Ms Tebbutt had already ruled out a tilt at the leadership and Ms Firth was busy trying to retain her seat. They were doubtful Mr Daley would run.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

“There’s great fear about the future of the party’s first decision," Mr Iemma told Macquarie Radio yesterday. “The first major decision, after all that was said on Saturday night about needing to rebuild and regroup and get back to connecting with the people, our first decision is to reward the chief wrecker."

Mr Iemma said “it was better to give him [Mr Robertson] the leadership and allow him to burn out" so he won’t continue his “reign of terror within the party and destabilise and bring down another leader".

Mr Robertson’s spokeswoman said he wouldn’t comment until after Thursday’s vote for leader.

When Mr Iemma tried to privatise the state’s electricity assets, the union movement successfully opposed the scheme. Mr Robertson ran Unions NSW at the time and was a former official in the Electrical Trades Union, one of the chief opponents of privatisation.

A partial sale of the electricity industry took place under then premier Kristina Keneally.

In 2008 former prime minister
Paul Keating
wrote in an open letter to Mr Robertson: “I understand you are thinking about a transition to the Legislative Assembly from the comfort stop you are currently occupying.

“Let me tell you, if the Labor Party’s stocks ever get so low as to require your services in its parliamentary leadership it will itself have no future."